Isaiah 15 - 16 - Legacy Standard Bible

Isaiah 15 - 16

An Oracle Concerning Moab

The oracle concerning Moab.

Surely in a night Ar of Moab is destroyed and ruined;

Surely in a night Kir of Moab is destroyed and ruined.

They have gone up to the temple and to Dibon, even to the high places to weep.

Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba;

Everyone’s head is bald and every beard is cut off.

In their streets they have girded themselves with sackcloth;

On their rooftops and in their squares

Everyone is wailing, dissolved in weeping.

Heshbon and Elealeh also cry out,

Their voice is heard all the way to Jahaz;

Therefore the armed men of Moab make a loud shout;

His soul trembles within him.

My heart cries out for Moab;

Those who flee from her are as far as Zoar and Eglath‑shelishiyah,

For they go up the ascent of Luhith weeping;

Surely on the road to Horonaim they keep awake with crying in distress over their destruction.

For the waters of Nimrim are desolate.

Surely the grass is dried up, the tender grass has completely ceased,

There is no green thing.

Therefore the abundance they have made and stored up

They carry off over the brook of Arabim.

For the cry has gone around the territory of Moab,

Its wailing goes as far as Eglaim and its wailing even to Beer‑elim.

For the waters of Dimon are full of blood;

Surely I will put added woes upon Dimon,

A lion upon those of Moab who have escaped and upon the remnant of the land.

Send the tribute lamb to the ruler of the land,

From Sela by way of the wilderness to the mountain of the daughter of Zion.

Then, like fleeing birds or scattered nestlings,

The daughters of Moab will be at the fords of the Arnon.

“Bring us counsel, make a decision;

Cast your shadow like night at high noon;

Hide those banished, do not reveal the one who flees.

Let the banished of Moab sojourn with you;

Be a hiding place to them from the destroyer.”

For the extortioner has come to an end, destruction has ceased,

Oppressors have completely disappeared from the land.

And a throne will be established in lovingkindness,

And a judge will sit on it in truth in the tent of David;

Moreover, he will seek justice

And be prompt in righteousness.

We have heard of the pride of Moab, an excessive pride;

Even of his lofty pride, pride, and fury;

His idle boasts are false.

Therefore Moab will wail; everyone of Moab will wail.

You will moan for the raisin cakes of Kir‑hareseth

As those who are utterly stricken.

For the fields of Heshbon have languished, the vines of Sibmah as well;

The lords of the nations have trampled down its choice clusters

Which reached as far as Jazer and wandered to the deserts;

Its tendrils spread themselves out and passed over the sea.

Therefore I will weep bitterly for Jazer, for the vine of Sibmah;

I will drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh;

For the shouting over your summer fruits and your harvest has fallen away.

Gladness and joy are taken away from the fruitful orchard;

In the vineyards also there will be no cries of joy or shouts of jubilation,

No treader treads out wine in the presses,

For I have made the shouting to cease.

Therefore my inner being moans like a harp for Moab

And my inward feelings for Kir‑hareseth.

So it will be when Moab appears,

When he wearies himself upon his high place

And comes to his sanctuary to pray,

That he will not prevail.

13 This is the word which Yahweh spoke earlier concerning Moab. 14 But now Yahweh speaks, saying, “Within three years, as a hired man would count them, the glory of Moab will be dishonored along with all his great population, and his remnant will be very small and not mighty.”